June 12, 1900–August 10, 1974

BY DONALD S.McCLURE

DURING HIS LIFETIME Wallace Brode was known for his broadly based development of applied spectroscopy and for his able administration of numerous science-related organizations. He was equally at home in academe and in government. He used his high intellect and breadth of knowledge to promote the welfare of other people, being truly a scientific statesman.

He was born on June 12, 1900, as one of triplet brothers, each of whom became distinguished as a scientist. Their father, Howard, was a professor of biology, teaching at Whitman College in Walla Walla, a small town in southeastern Washington, where the family was reared. Like other colleges in the Northwest at that time, Whitman had been struggling out of its recent pioneer past in an attempt to become a credible educational institution with slim financial resources but having a dedicated president and faculty.¹ Everyone— father, mother, the triplets (Wallace, Robert,² and Malcolm), and an older son, Stanley—worked for or studied in the college, learning high ideals and hard work. Howard Brode is still honored by a yearly lectureship at Whitman College.

After receiving his B.S. at Whitman, Wallace studied under Roger Adams at the University of Illinois and was awarded